Starting your podcast can be really difficult, with figuring out the music, hosting, recording, editing, it can be a little overwhelming. However, one of the most important things you can do is choose a good, descriptive podcast name.
Your name should give a good idea of what your podcast is about without being really long. If you already have a brand, or a business, that could work as a podcast title right there! The main goal is to get people to listen to your podcast, so you want the title to pull them in.
No Subtitles
Describing what your podcast is in the title is important, your listeners should get the idea of the podcast without too much confusion, but having subtitles in your title is no longer accepted by Apple Podcasts. They started pulling podcasts from the directory for having long titles such as, “The Business Podcast - Helping You Create Better Business For Your Ideal Customer”.
That kind of a title is just too long and Apple recognizes that you are trying to stuff it full of keywords. So if you want to stuff your podcast with keywords to be found a little easier, make sure to do it in the description of the show, the episode title, and the episode descriptions. That way you still get all the search traffic you were hoping for and don’t stuff your title with too much.
Tone
What is the tone of your show? Is it more serious? silly? Related to business? Pop culture? Whatever you are doing a podcast about, your show will have a tone associated with it. If the hosts are going to be silly and joke around a lot in the show, try having a light-hearted graphic with bright colors, and a not so serious name.
Take “Doughboys” for example, it’s a comedy podcast where the two hosts talk about chain restaurants every week. It’s a simple name that gets the point across right when you read it, without taking itself too seriously.
Take Inspiration
It’s really hard to just come up with a catchy name that gets the point across all on your own. This is where it helps to get inspiration from others.
Check out books - A lot of times you can find inspiration in book titles, or through reading stories in books
Other Podcasts - If you’re struggling to come up with a name, do some research on other podcasts that are similar to yours, and use that as something to go off of. I’m not saying steal their name (please don’t do that).
Play on words - Take a popular idiom or phrase and change one of the words to fit your podcast. A good example of this is “The Last Podcast on the Left”, taken from a popular phrase, and turned into a podcast title.
Ask People
This one may sound obvious, but it can really help when you can’t seem to come up with that catchy title name, or you think you have the perfect name that everyone will love. If you ask your friends, they will tell you if the name is as good as it can be. Maybe talking it out with someone will help you come up with the name that you’ve been hoping for. You can get other points of view, and really start to nail down some different ideas.
Search online
Do a quick Google search to see if your favorite name is taken. It might not come up so you might have to be specific about it. You might have to find a different name even if the podcast that has your name hasn’t posted an episode in 4 years because, at the very least, your listeners might get confused at which podcast is yours. The person who owns the podcast name might just sell it to you if you are that attached to the name.
Doing a search online can also help with coming up with ideas as well. If you search for a keyword in your podcast’s industry, you might find articles or headlines that might help with coming up with a title for your show.
Stay on Brand
If you already have a brand that you are associated with, that’s exactly what you should use, simple as that! Whatever your business’s name is, you can use that to keep everything as tightly knitted as possible, people shouldn’t be confused about who is running the business and who is doing the podcast.
If you don’t have a previous business or brand, it’s important to try and keep it consistent between the title and whatever you want the tone to be for your show. If you have a podcast discussing movies, don’t name your podcast, “Talking Business”. You get the idea.
If you made it this far, consider reaching out to me at matt@ieditpodcasts.com to chat about great and creative ways to improve your podcast, or if you would like some help with your entire podcasting process, including launching your show, consultations, editing, or just a more personal conversation!
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